Teach Me How to Love
by kbeto
Summary: Because good things can happen to any of us when we least expect, and Danny is in for a lesson he's never going to forget. Flones. Rated T, well, 'cause I rate everything I write T.


_Disclaimer: Constantly tossing and turning in my sleep because I don't own a thing._

_A/N: Wow, my first SA! I wasn't planning on writing this, but it kinda sprouted in a conversation with the lovely __**lozzigurl**__, and I just couldn't help myself! So, if you like it, you may have to thank her as well. ;) I don't know how I feel about it, but it was a nice experience and I just had to get this feelings out of my chest! *sobs*_

_That's why I say the fandom has amazing potential, but it depends on our own actions and interactions! I thought of opening a forum to maybe discuss things and just get to know each other, but I'm fairly sure it would be as dead as the comm and I would only be making myself sadder. *sighs*_

_Happy New Year, girls and boys! Let's try to keep things alive in the JML tag this year! :D_

Teach Me How to Love

"_You could use some distraction,"_ they said. _"It's going to be fun,"_ they said, but Danny didn't feel like he was having _any_ fun from what he could only describe as torture on ice. He couldn't say much about the distraction part, because the chilly wind scratching his face kept reminding him that it was such a bad idea to to listen to his mates –Harry and Dougie–, as well as his sore bottom, from falling over repeated times.

"You two know this calls for revenge, don't ya?" he yelled, giving his friends a nasty look, as the boys skated away from him, sliding over the ice with ease and grace, something that Danny just _couldn't _do.

He reckoned the couple had their best intentions in taking him to that bloody ice rink, and he was secretly grateful to have people who cared about him to the point of not wanting him to wallow in self-pity after a nasty break-up with his previous girlfriend, but the freckled boy wondered how it would be possible for him to steady himself without holding onto something.

"I told you that we could teach you," Dougie spun in front of him, coming to a halt with precision worth of a blooming olympic medal, Harry wrapping his arms around the blond's waist soon after.

"I can do it on my own," Danny replied stubbornly, losing balance for a split second. "And I don't need to feel more like a third wheel than I already do."

Dougie stuck his tongue out to him, and Harry tried to muffle a laugh by burying his face into his boyfriend's shoulder. They started sliding away again, hand in hand, and Danny smiled to himself, thinking of how nice would feel to have something closer to what they had, something like friendship, but at the same time, you could clearly notice they were completely crazy about each other.

"_I don't think we want the same thing from this relationship,"_ the memory of his ex-girlfriend rushed back to him, making his smile falter. He decided it was time to start enjoying himself a bit, and tried again to take some steps, slowly letting go of the bar he had been holding onto for the past 20 minutes or so.

There was a first step, a second one, but it didn't take long for the ice beneath the blades under his feet seemed to turn into quick sand, and he slipped to a certain fall that would surely hurt his already mistreated arse.

Danny closed his eyes and waited for the impact that never came. He concentrated harder, trying to feel if he had indeed hit the ice and was just so numb that his nerves couldn't alert him about the pain, but again, he felt nothing, nor did he open his eyes.

"Are you okay, mate?" he heard an unknown voice ask from above him.

Risking a peek with just one eye, Danny was surprised to see a pair of beautiful brown eyes staring back at him upside down. The stranger gave him a smile and a single dimple poked on his cheek as he beamed, seeing the brunet was free of any harm. The boy was bent over Danny, holding him by his arms, which explained the odd angle he appeared in front of the brunet.

"Uh– thanks," Danny finally found his voice, struggling a bit to get back to his feet, and realising he had been saved from his certain fall by the gentle blond boy.

"First time ice skating?" the boy asked him, this time giving him a teethed grin. Danny felt a bit mesmerized and offended, because it seemed like this guy he didn't even know was making fun of him.

"Yeah, my friends brought me here," he pointed to Harry and Dougie. They seemed to be busy kissing each other's faces off, and didn't even notice that his friend almost fell and split his skull open, hadn't he been saved by the mysterious blond stranger. "They thought it would cheer me up."

"Let me guess," his face scrunched up in thought, "you broke up with your boyfriend," the boy finally said.

"Girlfriend," Danny corrected. "I'm not– They are but– Uh, I mean–"

"Sorry, sorry!" The other boy's face went red. "But hey, I wasn't so off the mark," he scratched his head and chuckled.

"You could say so," Danny found himself chuckling as well, much to his own surprise.

"By the way, I'm Thomas," a hand presented itself in front of Danny. "But you can call me Tom."

"I'm Daniel," he shook Tom's hand, "everybody calls me Danny."

Danny took his time to have a better look at Tom, thinking he was peculiar, to say the least. The blond wouldn't catch anyone's attention with what he was wearing, weren't for a fluffy light pink and white ushanka on his head. One that made him look as friendly as a baby, though babies could be a bit terrifying at times, and Danny just couldn't feel a bad thing from the cheery boy.

"I'm not mental, if that's what you're thinking," Tom points to his head, noticing how Danny's eyes had been burning into his headgear with an intense gaze. "I couldn't find mine and had to borrow my sister's."

"Oh," Danny said, realising he was being a bit rude, staring like that. "It's nice, it goes well with the colour of your eyes."

He saw Tom blush again, and instantly knew he had put a foot in his mouth, like he always did, regretting that it would have come out wrong. Why did he say that? If he didn't knew himself better, it was almost as he was_ flirting_ with Tom, who was a_ boy_ and he had known for a few _minutes_.

"I'm here by myself," Tom cleared his throat, getting over his previous embarrassment. "I can teach you, if you want."

"Wouldn't that be weird?" the curly-haired boy arched an eyebrow.

"Coming from the guy wearing a pink ushanka? I don't think so," Tom laughed, grabbing one of Danny's hands, telling the other boy all the basics about ice skating, balance, skidding and movement on ice.

~#~

"You've improved very fast," Tom clapped, watching Danny stand without leaning on something. "It took me way more time to be able to stand on my own."

"Let's say I'm a natural," Danny grinned, happy with his own evolution.

Truth to be told, he had little difficult with sports, and felt pride in saying so. It's just that ice skating was something outlandish, something that even he couldn't be good at without proper help. Not that Dougie hadn't offered him help, but he didn't want to admit being defeated by some bloody _frozen water_.

"And for the next lesson we're trying some movement," the blond slid closer to him. "Ready?"

Danny bit his lip for a moment, and seeing indecision flickering in his eyes, Tom offered him a hand –both to be more precise–, a gesture he appreciated and accepted, after having second thoughts for a brief instant, smiling in return and trusting the boy he barely knew.

The scene must have looked funny for anyone around, seeing two grown men skating slowly, hands linked and laughing like crazy, but Danny honestly couldn't bring himself to care. He knew (without even looking) Harry had been eyeing him and his newest mate for a while, though not even the thought of all the teasing that would certainly follow after would make him let go of Tom's hand. A hand that surprisingly inspired so much trust, that Danny started to think that he may had been a bit too trusting, taking into account that they're strangers and all.

"You're really good," he spoke before he could stop himself, mentally kicking himself when Tom smiled shyly and muttered a thanks back, because the thought of Tom being adorable sprouted in some part of his brain, and that in itself could _never_ be a good thing.

"Just remember to take it easy, and things will feel natural after some time," the blond's voice broke Danny's trance, scaring him for a second, because it seemed like he was reading Danny's mind, when he was in fact referring to the skating lesson. "I'll buy you some hot chocolate after we're done."

"You didn't want to accept my help, but it seems like this beautiful stranger convinced you otherwise," Dougie got closer to them with Harry in tow, Danny immediately letting go of Tom's hands, looking rather embarrassed.

"Because he's not the prick that brought me here to play the third wheel, whilst he was too busy snogging his boyfriend," Danny rolled his eyes, and folded his arms, showing a far better sense of balance.

He introduced his friends to Tom, and like it had happened with him, Tom just seemed to click with the other two. Danny reckoned it to be one of his traits, because, let's be honest, it didn't take much to like someone as gentle and funny as Tom. His personality was bright like the sunshine itself, and he kept emanating this friendly vibe, like you had known him for all your life, even if you had just met him.

Harry tugged on Dougie's arm, saying something about leaving the lovebirds alone, to which Tom replied with _"just remember there are kids around and you two could be arrested for doing certain sort of things"_, making both boys smile falter, giving Danny a thumb up and a sense of satisfaction for turning the banter against the cheeky couple.

"Tha' was great," Danny put a hand on Tom's shoulder.

Tom looked from the hand on his shoulder to Danny's face, and the freckled boy quickly retreated it with an apology. He was surprised when Tom just flicked him in the nose, saying he didn't mind, and started crossing the rink, waving to Danny to follow him, if he still wanted a _"hot chocolate" _and that would have to_ "work for it"_. He promptly started following the blond, if that was enough of an answer.

~#~

"You're a teacher?" Danny eyebrows shot up, eyes growing wide at Tom's revelation.

"Is that so hard to believe?" Tom smiled, shaking his head and taking another sip from his hot cocoa.

"I didn't mean it like tha', it's just unexpected," he frowned. "I bet the kids love you."

"They don't seem to hate me, and they listen to me, so you might be right," the blond put his mug down.

After almost successfully completing the task Tom had given him, Danny got invited to a little café where they had been sitting for the past half hour, sipping from their hot drinks. The conversation started with topics like 'winter' and 'olympics', but soon –and neither could say how– the topics changed, and they were simply getting to know each other, like hobbies, occupation, and that kind of stuff.

Danny couldn't shake the nagging feeling that it could be interpreted by anyone outside as a date, when it really wasn't. Yeah, he may still be a bit down about the fiasco his previous relationship turned out to be, but that doesn't mean he'll just start going after guys, not just because he seemed to have met the nicest of them all. No way in hell.

"All right, boys?" A tall woman with a pen behind her ear and a notepad in hand approached them, an inviting and warm smile upon her face.

"Everything's great as always, Margot," Tom beamed, tilting his mug slightly. "But I'm starting to get hungry– Danny?"

A good ten seconds must have passed before his brain could register that Tom asked him something. Although Danny was physically there, his mind was too occupied with confused thoughts and, if he were to be honest with himself, admiring how Tom could be so nice all the time. And it wasn't because it didn't seem genuine or something, it's just that people like him are so _hard_ to come by nowadays.

"Yes!" he exclaimed. The reply must made him sound like an idiot, because Tom and Margot were laughing the next second, though Tom murmured something about _"traumatic ice skating lessons"_ and ordered some croissants for them.

"I reckon it's a good chance to fill our stomachs," the blond smiled, thanking Margot as she got back with their order.

As soon as the aroma coming hit his nostrils, Danny noticed how hungry he really was, wolfing down some of his share in a short amount of time. He stopped when he saw Tom gaping at him, but laughed when the chocolate-eyed boy dared him to an eating contest, and both started munching their respective meals away.

"Winner!" Tom raised both hands in the air, doing his best impression of a screaming crowd on a football match.

"Only 'cause I'm not feeling too well," Danny sort of whined, but he couldn't bring himself to care; deep inside he already felt comfortable enough to act silly around Tom.

"Can you spell 'sore loser'?" Tom stuck his tongue out to him. "There's something on your face, Danny."

"Where?"

What came next surprised Danny in more ways than he would ever imagine: Tom leaned across the table and with a quick swipe of his thumb, he cleaned some cocoa from the corner of Danny's mouth, sucking on the same finger right after.

"As good as new," he told Danny, but the freckled boy hurriedly excused himself, before all but dashing to the toilet.

"Fuck," he rested his back against the closed door, the feeling of the skin Tom had touched tingling and burning. "Fuck," he whispered again, bringing a hand to the afflicted area, and desperately trying to wash his face from all those sensations.

When he returned to the table, his heart sank a bit, because Tom was nowhere to be found. He then noticed the pink ushanka atop the table, a napkin with something scribble on it poking from under the unusual headgear.

_I hope I haven't scared you or anything. Spending too much time with children makes you treat others like one, I guess. To make sure we can still be friends, I'm giving you my phone number (see back) with the promise that you're going to give me my item back._

_Tom :)_

_PS: If you don't, my sister may kill me in the most gruesome way known to the humanity. It's her favourite! The life of a man depends on your actions!  
PS2: I paid for everything, you can just get out of there with no worries.  
PS3: There won't be a 'PS4'. :P_

A smile found its way to his face, and Danny folded the note, shoving it inside his wallet. He thanked and waved Margot goodbye, before stepping into the cold freezing streets, heading straight back to his own flat.

~#~

"_How was it with your new friend?"_ Dougie's voice sounded a bit _too_ pleased for Danny's liking, and he was secretly grateful they were having this conversation via phone, because he wasn't sure how he would react seeing the probably smug smirk on his mate's face.

"It was fine. He's a nice guy," he tried to shorten the talk before it could get any more embarrassing, even though he wasn't sure why.

"_Is he? Nice to know that,"_ Danny heard Harry laughing from somewhere near Dougie. _"Why don't we go out, the four of us?"_

"Because it would seem weird, Dougs. Almost like a–"

"_Double date?"_ This time both Harry and Dougie were laughing.

"–desperate attempt to make new friends," Danny finished his sentence with a exasperated sigh. "Look, I gotta go. Talk to you gits later."

"_Bye, Dan. Talk to you tomorrow, we love you."_

"I know, you bunch of arses," he chuckled, "love you two, too. Goodnight."

~#~

A week passed by since his fateful encounter with Tom on the ice rink, and Danny was still unsure about calling the teacher. By any means that meant he didn't want to see the blond again, it's just that he was a bit wary, about how much he _wanted _it, in fact. Obviously, having Dougie pestering him about it all the time did _not _help at all, and if anything, it only made his inner struggle worse.

Plucking up some courage, and seeing the bright (and cold) day as a good opportunity, he dialled the number, taking deep breaths as he awaited for someone to pick up, which was taking a bit too long. He was almost giving up and ending the call, when a male voice spoke from the other side.

"_Sorry, I sort of lost my phone. Good morning, how can I help you?"_ Tom sounded as cheery as always, even if he had absolute clue who could it be calling him on a Sunday morning.

"Good morning, Tom. How are ya?" Danny smiled sheepishly. "It's–"

"_Danny! So good hearing from you, mate!"_ Tom all but beamed. _"Thought I had scared you off," _he laughed.

"What? No!" he replied a bit too fast, and punched his thigh when Tom laughed again. "I mean, of course not! I've been just a tad busier than usual, that's all."

"_Good, good."_

"Uh, I was thinking if we could meet?" He mentally kicked himself, as he sounded a bit of an idiot, and at the same time because it seemed like he was asking the blond out on a date. "I still have to give you your hat back."

"_That would be nice! I'm still alive because my sister didn't find out,"_ a soft chuckle came from the other side of the line. _"When?"_

"What about later today?"

A silence took place for a few seconds, and Danny just wanted to crawl into a hole, because he surely have overstepped some limit. It wasn't clear to him why he needed Tom's acceptance so bad, but by now he was pretty sure he wanted the other boy to think highly of him.

"_It's just that I already got plans." _

Danny felt the ground being pulled from under his feet. A whole week to man up, and he had what seemed the worst timing on the face of the earth. He found himself ready to apologise for any inconvenience, when Tom spoke again.

"_Unless you don't mind coming with us? We're going to the zoo."_

"Wouldn't that be weird? I don't want to impose or anything," he asked, albeit he secretly wished to go. He had to see Tom again.

"_Nah, just meet me at the front gate around– is 2 PM good for you?"_

"Perfect. See ya later?"

"_See you later! Bye, Dan!"_

The line went mute and Danny couldn't shake the feeling that Tom had called him 'Dan', and caught himself smiling like a loony. But the same way he got his spirits up by that, he remembered that Tom said _"coming with us"_. Who 'us' could be? Maybe his friends? His sister? His _girlfriend_? Pushing the thought aside, he walked over to his closet to find some nice outfit, because he needed to look presentable.

~#~

The rest of the morning most likely were dragging, turning Danny into a heap of nerves. He shouldn't be making a mountain out a molehill –he knew that well–, but he couldn't keep this tingling off his core, some sort of inquietude that kept troubling him and making it hard for him to concentrate on easy tasks, and he was being completely and utterly defeated by Harry on their match playing Mario Kart.

Dougie was somewhere in the kitchen finishing what would be their lunch, and the good smell coming from kitchen told them that the blond was almost finished with his task, making their stomachs protest in indignation. Like predicted, Dougie walked in five minutes later, wiping his hands on his pink apron that read _"snog the cook",_ announcing the meal was ready and the brunet duo should go wash their hands.

Over lunch they asked Danny to stay and watch some films with them, but he said he had to go back home to take a shower and get dressed, which made eyebrows rise in suspicion, earning himself some whistling from Dougie and a knowing look from Harry.

"Thanks for the meal, twats," Danny rolled his eyes, grabbing his coat and exiting his friends' house. Their laughter could be heard outside. _"Arseholes,"_ he thought to himself.

~#~

Much to his surprise, Danny arrived at the rendezvous to find Tom already there, leaning against one of the two stone lions guarding the entrance. The blonde boy had his eyes closed, head jamming to the sound of something, and Danny noticed there were wires coming from under his brown ushanka, probably connected to an iPod. Apparently, Tom had a thing for this kind of hat, thought that made Danny smile, because it really suited him, being the same as his eye colour and all.

Silently walking, Danny crept closer to Tom, being a few inches from the teacher's face, impressed by the fact of not being found out. That was, until Tom suddenly opened his jerked his head forward, the unexpected movement making the brunet stumble backwards, landing on his own arse with a muffled thud.

"You should have seen your face," Tom's breathed, trying to control his guffaw and extending a hand to Danny. "It was totally worth the wait."

"And for some reason I keep running into comedians," Danny grunted back, trying to feign an annoyed face, but cracking into a smile, because it's humanly _impossible_ not to smile around Tom.

What he did, though, was grab the hand before him and pull Tom in the snow with him, but for a miscalculation of his part, it ended with both of them sandwiched on the ground, noses so close that they were almost rubbing. Danny's eyes flicked from Tom's to the boy's lips, and if it weren't from him laughing and getting himself up, Danny would probably have done something that could spoil their budding friendship.

"I'll let you off the hook this time because I'm the one who scared you first," Tom pried his earphones off, shoving them in his pocket, laughing like a little kid.

"Am I late?" Danny found his voice again, getting up on his own. "I thought I arrived 10 minutes earlier."

"And you are. Not late, that is," a hand waved dismissively. "I just don't like it when people have to wait for me, so I got here five minutes ago."

"Are you even real?" Danny didn't mean to be harsh, but it seemed like Tom was some sort of _higher_ being, always considerate of other people, looking out for someone that wasn't himself. That kind of selflessness isn't easy to come by.

"Is that real enough for you?" Tom yanked one of his gloves off, flicking Danny in the nose, just like the first time they met. "Let's get inside."

~#~

Their trip around the zoo went smoothly, with the two of them just talking about what each had done in the past week, talking a bit more about each other, and watching the few animals that weren't taking their time sleeping their lives away, like the bear. Tom said it wasn't that great to go to the zoo during winter, but it was not his choice, and he liked it was more calm than it would be normally.

That's when something clicks inside Danny's mind: where were the other people Tom was coming with? They couldn't have already left, could they? It had been barely an hour since they arrived! A part of him was dying to know, but he fought the urge of asking Tom, and shoved his hands inside his pockets, finding something inside one of them.

"I think this is yours," he handed Tom the pink ushanka.

"Thanks, but I'm already wearing one, so..." he trailed off, "What about you wearing it?"

Danny stared at him in disbelief, like another head had sprouted on the blond's neck. "I don't go well with pink."

"Is that the only problem?" Tom took off his own hat.

His golden hair seemed even more beautiful and longer than Danny had anticipated, not that he had been paying attention to any of that, as Tom were still a _boy_ and he couldn't have that kind of thought about him. Putting on the pink ushanka he was wearing the first time they met, he quickly put the brown one on Danny's head, his fingers brushing slightly against the freckled skin, as he adjusted the curls out of the blue eyes.

"Now we're all set! And it looks good on you, too!"

"Thanks?" He was _almost_ sure that he should thank Tom for shoving that peculiar headgear on him.

"Come on, you're going to love it," Tom grabbed him by the hand, pulling him over to where they could see their reflection on the glass. "See? Looking good."

Danny was about to protest about the whole idea, when a child voice's could be heard, calling _"papa"_. The next thing he knew, a blond little girl was running straight to Tom, hugging his neck as he crouched to envelope her into a tight embrace, making weird noises that made her giggle.

"Papa," she repeated, and Danny felt like being stabbed through the heart. Tom had a _daughter, _and that could only mean he's a _married_ man_._

"Hey, princess," Tom chuckled, spinning her around. "Where's mama?"

"I'm here, sweetie," a brunette with green eyes, appeared smiling widely at the cute scene.

Watching it from his perspective, Danny felt like intruding on something private, something that he shouldn't witness. Hell, something he didn't _want _to witness, and tried his hardest not to listen to the small voice inside his head telling him that could only be classified as _jealousy_.

"I want you two to meet a friend," Tom turned to Danny, "This is my friend Danny. These two are my family, my little princess Zoe and my beloved Alice."

"My pleasure, Danny," Alice extended her hand, which Danny reluctantly shook. The little girl, Zoe, just stared at him and started crying.

"Same here, Alice," he tried not to be awkward, as Tom tried to make the girl stop crying, making soothing noises. "She doesn't like me much, eh?"

"Don't take it personally, she's like that with everyone," Alice apologised, taking her daughter from Tom. "She'll warm up to you in no time!"

With the false pretence of being called on the phone by someone, Danny said he couldn't stay any longer, and bid farewell to Tom and his family, despite some protest from his friend. He noticed that Zoe seemed to have calmed down enough, and instead of crying she kept eyeing him with small brown eyes that mimicked her dad's. Danny risked waving a goodbye, and got a pleasant surprise when he received a wave back from the tiny gloved hand.

"_You're totally daft, Daniel," _he decided to walk all the way back to his house, hoping the fresh chilly air could make his thoughts clearer.

~#~

Two weeks of beating himself up over the whole thing with Tom –which was not actually a 'thing', since they never had _anything _together– and ignoring his calls, Danny finally gave in to Dougie's pleas of joining him and Harry for another session of ice skating and begrudgingly agreed to go with them.

This time he really enjoyed himself, as he finally could do something else than just sit on the ice with a sore bum. Tom was a great teacher, he knew that much, but thinking about him wasn't doing nothing to cheer Danny up. The painful realization that he might have a crush on the other boy only made it harder to keep away the thoughts of him, when said boy had a wife and a daughter. Because, obviously, the first time he had ever fallen for someone of the same gender, it had to be for an unavailable man.

Lost in his thoughts, the curly-haired boy didn't notice someone getting closer from behind, two hands covering his eyes, that he knew didn't belong to the same person, unless that person had some serious asymmetry problem, because the hand on their left was considerably larger than the one on the right, that barely could cover his eye.

"I felt like I would find you here," a familiar voice sent shivers down Danny's spine, whispering into his ear, as he turned to see Tom behind him, carrying a giggling Zoe in one arm.

"Tom!" He sounded a bit more surprised than he actually meant, and all he wanted to do was run away.

"You know, I could have given it to you, if I knew you were so keen on brown," Tom frowned, pointing to his hat that Danny was wearing.

"It's not– I mean–"

"Dan-dan," Zoe had her arms outstretched to Danny, and Tom promptly passed him the little girl. It didn't even seem like she almost had had cried her eyes out the first time they met, two weeks ago.

"She seems to like you," Tom chuckled. "Well, she's not the only one," he blushed, lowering his gaze to the ice.

"What–"

"Honey, come with mama," Alice suddenly appeared, greeting Danny and taking the girl.

"Bye, Dan-dan," the tiny hand waved, before sliding away with her mum.

"Can we go somewhere else to talk?" Tom spoke sternly, and Danny swallowed hard, before nodding and following him.

~#~

"I'm sorry if I misunderstood you or anything, but I can't do this game," Tom eyes were glistening with tears. "Maybe I got your signals wrong, or maybe you were just unknowingly leading me astray."

"I what?" Danny looked appalled at such words.

"I don't usually do that, I just thought you were as interested in me as I were –am– in you. Why would you have agreed on meeting me for a second time?"

"Because I didn't know what I was feeling and you said nothing about being married with a kid?" Danny started to lose his temper. As much as he probably liked the boy, he wasn't going to let anyone accuse him of something he didn't do.

"Oh," Tom started laughing like he had been told the funniest joke in the world.

"And you stop laughing! What's so funny to ya?" the brunet hissed, and to his surprised, he was silenced with a kiss.

He didn't respond at first, but soon his brain seemed to shut off, and he kissed back, as Tom tenderly deepened the kiss, pulling him by the floppy ears dangling from his hat.

"They're my family, but not in _that _sense," Tom smiled, giving an astonished Danny a final peck.

It turned out that Zoe resembled Tom in so many ways because she's his deceased twin brother's daughter. Tom explained that his brother died in a car accident when the girl was just 6 months old, and that's why she calls him 'papa', when he's in reality her uncle.

"We tried getting her to call me uncle, but it seems that 'papa' is way easier to pronounce," he chuckled. "And before you ask me, I'm single and I'm not interested in Alice, she's like a sister to me."

"Is all this for real?" Danny blinked, still processing all the information he was given.

"Why don't you kiss me again and then pinch your own cheek?" a dimple poked in Tom's cheek, accompanying his clear smile.

"Tha' must do," Danny pretended to think for a second, closing the gap between them. "You know what's the worst part about all this? I'll have to thank those two dickheads for dragging me here. Twice," he sighed, and they started laughing between kisses.

Maybe what Danny needed was, in fact, someone who could teach him how to ice skate and maybe (and more importantly), **how to love**.

~Fin~


End file.
